Tomatoes May Protect Against Stroke

NEW YORK (CBS NEWS) — Stroke prevention may be found in a bottle of ketchup. A new study shows that people with the highest amounts of lycopene in their blood, which is an antioxidant found in tomatoes, were 55 percent less likely to have a stroke than those with the lowest levels.

“This study adds to the evidence that a diet high in fruits and vegetables is associated with a lower risk of stroke,” study author Dr. Jouni Karppi, a researcher in the department of medicine and public health at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio, said in a press release.

Stroke is the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States, taking 137,000 lives each year. About 795,000 Americans will suffer a new or recurrent stroke in 2012, according to the American Stroke Association, approximately one stroke every 40 seconds.

The cardiovascular event can be caused either by a clot blocking blood flow to the brain, an ischemic stroke, or by a blood vessel rupturing and preventing blood flow to the brain, a hemorrhagic stroke. Temporary blood clots may cause TIAs (transient ischemic attacks), also known as “mini strokes.”